Prisoners for peace
Friends urged to send messages to prisoners
Quakers have been encouraged to send letters and Christmas cards to people around the world who are imprisoned for their stand against war.
They include conscientious objectors detained for refusing to join the armed forces as well as those in jail for resisting war with nonviolent direct action.
War Resisters’ International (WRI) made the appeal to coincide with Prisoners for Peace Day last Saturday (1 December). Their database includes hundreds of prisoners, as far apart as Eritrea and Finland. Many are in countries that offer no legal recognition to conscientious objection, such as South Korea and Turkey.
Their request was backed by Israeli conscientious objector Sergeiy Sandler. ‘I can testify to the importance of the scores of support messages I received from people all over the world,’ he said. ‘They lifted my spirit when I was behind bars.’
The prisoners include people who have taken part in war before changing their mind, such as Kimberly Rivera, who fought with the US army. After experiencing the Iraq war and reading the Bible, she found that she could not in conscience continue to fight. She fled to Canada, where she was refused refugee status and forcibly returned to the US. She is awaiting court martial and faces up to five years in prison.
Others have been jailed for hampering what they see as preparations for war. Lee Young-Chan, a Jesuit priest, was arrested in South Korea while campaigning against the construction of a naval base.
WRI’s database includes no ‘prisoners for peace’ in the UK, although it has listed several in recent years. They include Quakers such as Sylvia Boyes of Keighley Meeting, who was imprisoned last year for refusing to pay fines resulting from nonviolent action against nuclear weapons. In early 2011, three British peace activists were jailed in separate cases within one month (see ‘Peace activist in prison again’, 11 February 2011).
WRI’s Andreas Speck said that prisoners’ contact details could be found on WRI’s website or by calling its office.
‘Think about what you would like to receive if you were in prison,’ he added. ‘Maybe include photos, or a drawing, telling them about your life, and what you are doing to stop war. Include your name and address, but don’t expect a reply – this may not be possible.’
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